


Trading Post

by amberswansong



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-07
Updated: 2011-05-07
Packaged: 2017-10-19 03:16:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/196269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amberswansong/pseuds/amberswansong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In Kalm, the party trades old Cetrain artifacts for materia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trading Post

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thene](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thene/gifts).



The shop was full of strange things in glass cases, some beautiful, others just odd. One case was full of old souvenirs from all over the Planet; postcards with yellowing edges ( _Greetings from Gongaga!_ ), silver spoons with Junon's flag on the handle, thimbles emblazoned with Nibelheim's flower. There were delicate Wutain dolls with porcelain faces, and some of them looked like they had once been loved. Tifa tried not to think about how they had gotten from the arms of little girls into a shop on another continent.

"The Cetrain merchandise is slower to move, of course - less of it, and it's more expensive. But the people who collect it really go nuts for certain items." He flipped through the guidebook, studying the pages. "Beautiful work, isn't it? You said you found it underwater?"

Cloud nodded.

The old man continued. "Those Cetra, they never stop surprising you. The ink must be spelled onto the pages to keep it there. Hardly any water damage at all. It's hard to believe. Do you read the language?"

Tifa watched as the party looked at each other, and she imagined that each of them was trying not to think about Aeris. She certainly was.

"No," she said quickly, hoping to distract the man. She didn't even know if Aeris had understood Cetrain, and there certainly wasn't time to get upset about it.

"Shame, right shame. They don't teach it in schools anymore, do they? It's labelled 'ducem liber' - that'd be guide book in Common - and here on the first page you can see it's subtitled 'alterius saeculi tabula.' That means it's a map of another world. Makes me curious... have you ever heard about where the Cetra came from? The creation myth?"

"We probably should be going," Tifa began, but the old man didn't seem to be listening.

"The story says they came from another world, looking for their... well, it gets translated as 'Promised Land,' but it's really more like the Wutain afterlife, if you ask me. Not that anyone asks me. But I wonder if this is meant to be a map of the world they came from, or of the world they're looking for?

"Anyway, I'm sure I'm boring you kids. It's only one of the greatest pieces of Cetrain art discovered in the last fifty years. I'm sure you've got plenty of other priceless Cetrain artifacts you're just carting around, too."

“No,” Cloud said. “But if we find any, we’ll stop in, okay?”

“That... would be wonderful. Wonderful. Let me give you something for this.” He stood and dug into a crate, pushing aside hay to reveal a gleaming blue-green materia. “Here we are, yes. This,” and he lofted it, revealing its glow, “is the underwater materia. An appropriate exchange, don’t you think?”

“It’s beautiful,” Tifa breathed, as Cloud took it and tucked it safely away. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, dear. The least I can do, for such a precious find. If you do find anything else, please, do bring it by.”

“We will,” Cloud promised, and let Cid lead the way back out.

“You didn’t take anything from him, did you?” she demanded of Yuffie as soon as the door shut.

“No,” she sighed. “I thought all he had was old junk! And then he pulled out that materia, and man, that was sneaky! I wonder what else he’s got hiding in there.”

“Worry about it later. We have a Weapon to stop.” Cloud was frowning. “Let’s get out of here.”

\--

“Did you find me something else?” the old man asked, looking much more excited than Tifa thought should be possible at his age.

Yuffie was already peering around, and Tifa grabbed the back of her collar. “Don’t you even think about it,” she whispered.

"Well," Cloud said, and he opened his backpack, "I'm not sure, but I thought you might want to take a look at it."

She saw the excitement in his eyes, and while she didn’t understand it, she could at least respect it. Aeris got the same look when she was talking about flowers. Was it just the discussion of Cetrain artifacts that made her thoughts keep circling back to Aeris? She wasn't sure, and she didn't like it.

"We found this, but I think it's broken," Cloud was saying, as he unwrapped the odd round, stringed instrument they'd found in Emerald Weapon's remains.

The old man sighed with delight and took it from Cloud. "Oh, no. Not broken. It's in beautiful condition." He set it on the counter, stroking the edges of it, ghosting his hands over the strings. They twanged softly, discordant.

"But there's no tuning pegs or anything," he protested. She hadn't realized Cloud knew anything about stringed instruments.

"It doesn't need them." The old man smiled gently. "Young ladies," and Tifa realized he was addressing her and Yuffie, who was looking incredibly perplexed, "do either of you sing well?"

"Sure," Yuffie offered, though Tifa imagined she would have said yes even if she couldn't. "Why?"

"Could you give me a C, please?"

Tifa wasn't exactly surprised when Yuffie straightened up and produced a beautiful, clear middle C. Yuffie was nothing if not surprising, and there was rarely any telling what she'd be able to do. She was quite startled, though, when one of the strings of the harp started vibrating, at first off-key, but shifting rapidly until it echoed Yuffie's note before she ran out of breath.

"So long as you sing on key, the Earth Harp will never be out of tune," he explained, caressing the shining wood. "It once belonged to the Brightest Bard of the Cetra. They called her Celine the Peacemaker, and some of her songs still exist today, in one form or another. It is said to calm the hearts of its hearers."

"Awesome," Yuffie proclaimed, coming over to look at it. She helped him tune it the rest of the way, and he picked out a little song. Tifa smiled, looking around at the rest of the group. Cloud and Yuffie were smiling back, and even Cid looked less surly and Vincent less sad. "So what'll you give me for it?" Yuffie asked. "And don't try to pull out one lousy materia, like you did for that old book. This is totally more awesome than that."

"You drive a hard bargain, young lady," the old man told her, "but I suppose you're right. This _is_ a very valuable artifact. I couldn't expect you to take just anything for it." Tifa saw his lips twitch in amusement.

"That's right. Let's see your best materia."

"Yuffie, be nice," Tifa told her, frowning. "Show some respect for your elders."

"It's just fine, young lady," the old man assured her. "She's not speaking to me with the voice of impetuous youth, but with the soul of a shrewd trader striking a deal. I take no offense."

"That's right, Tifa. We're _negotiating._ "

"You weren't nearly so excited about the thing when Cloud was suggesting you carry it," Vincent rumbled.

"I can't be burdened with carrying breakable stuff! It cramps my fighting style."

"Unless it's other people's materia," Cloud interjected.

"You got the last materia, and I didn't even take it from you yet. I fought Emerald Weapon too! And you still have that thing from Ruby."

If it was anybody in the world but Vincent, Tifa would've sworn he was snickering. "Kid's got a point," Cid said. "Let her bargain, you can always jump in if you think she's not getting a good deal."

The old man, who had slipped into the back room and returned again while they were talking, lay a black velvet pad on the glass case and set a pair of materia, one yellow and the other green, on it. Yuffie picked up the green one and examined it. "What are they?"

"That one is the Master Magic materia, and the other is Master Command. I think they'll serve you well."

Yuffie frowned, looking over at the harp and back at the materia. In what had to be the most difficult acting job of her life, she said, "I don't know. I kind of like the harp." The party exchanged startled glances and Vincent got that might-be-laughing look around his eyes again.

"You drive a hard bargain indeed, young lady." The old man nodded at her. "These materia have a third that completes the set; I will give you all three in exchange for your harp." He lay a third materia on the counter, this one red.

Yuffie's eyes glittered. "Deal." The materia vanished as if they had never been on the counter.

"I have one more item," Cloud said, reaching into his backpack again. He unwrapped it with great care, wanting to avoid both possibly damaging it and the wicked thorns that covered the stubby plant. "I don't know if this one's Cetrain, but we found it with Ruby Weapon, so I figure it must be."

"Ah!" He reached under the counter and pulled out a piece of fabric to cover the glass before Cloud set the pot down. "If I'm not mistaken...." He reached behind him, grabbing a book without looking and putting it on the counter. Flipping through it, the old man hummed to himself. "Yes! Without a doubt, this must be the Desert Rose, the Immortal Flower. It is said to bloom once a millennium, and it was once kept in the Great Temple of the High Priestess of the Cetra. This is a very great find, a very great find indeed, young sir. No mere sphere of rock is sufficient compensation for this, no matter how powerful. Please, come with me. I have, I believe, a appropriately unique gift for you." He lifted the wooden barrier separating the public area from his work space and gestured.

Cloud nodded and followed, Yuffie right behind and Tifa close behind her, to make sure she didn't try taking anything. She heard the others' footsteps behind her, and hoped the old man didn't mind being trailed by the whole party.

The room behind the shop was full of wooden crates in various states, with hay trailing everywhere. There seemed to be a lot more of the sorts of things in the cases out front, what Yuffie had referred to as "dirty old junk." He led the way through the room to the back door, following a narrow and winding path.

Outside was a tidy dooryard with a kitchen garden to one side, and a small stable fronted by a paddock. Tifa could hear chocobos chuckling to themselves and each other. One head popped out. "Kweh!" The feathers gleamed unmistakably gold in the sunlight.

"Here he is," the old man announced with some pride. "I bred him myself. He can take you and your friends anywhere on the Planet, if he likes you well enough."

Chocobos always liked Cloud. Tifa always thought it was his air of friendly approachability, but she'd heard enough jokes about the resemblance to at least consider it. "Kweh!" the chocobo nuzzled the top of Cloud's head, and he laughed and scritched at the base of its beak.

"Will that suit you?" the old man asked, smiling.

By this point, Cloud had his arms around the chocobo, and they were happily "kweh"-ing back and forth. "Yes!" Cloud crowed. "He's _wonderful_. Amazing. Thank you."

"Very good. Very good indeed." The old man bowed to them. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."


End file.
